Mention “Amalfi Coast”, and people will respond, “It is beautiful!” Mention “Positano”, the predictable response will be variations on: “It is beautiful AND expensive!”
We took a bus from Sorrento (our base on the Sorrentine Peninsula) to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. It was a day trip. The road linking the various town and villages along the coast is narrow and twisty, with each turn opening a new vista. The road, however, is not at sea level but high in the hills. Hence, when we got to Positano, we had to walk a long way to the town centre.
The initial walk down step roads and long flights of even steeper steps was rewarded with impressive canvasses of hills with tightly clustered houses, blue skies and seas. The setting was dramatic and, yes, beautiful. As we approached the beach, shops began to appear. As we walked past an art gallery, an exhibit arrested our steps. We turned back to have a closer look. There were two paintings with plump women as subjects.
Paintings sell because they are a pleasure to behold. In other words, they are beautiful (in accordance with the Hedonists’ conception of beauty). So, are fat women beautiful? Well, how many fat fashion models have you seen? Maybe none. How many businesses have you seen peddling their remedies to make you slim and attractive? Yes, plenty! But it wasn’t always this way.
The Dutch painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the most famous Flemish Baroque art school artist, studied anatomy and medicine to understand the human body. He painted nudes and highlighted their physical beauty, goodness, temptation, desire, and fertility. His full-figured women were later called “Rubenesque” or “Rubensian” (1). His famous “Rubensian” paintings include Amor (1630 and 1635) and Venus, Mars & Cupid (the early 1630s). Today he is better known as the painter of big women than for his portraits, self-portraits, and landscapes.
For about 400 years, roughly between 1500 and 1900, bodily weight and volume had a strong visual appeal for both men and women. There were variations according to country and century, but in general, being obese was the standard of good looks. Not only “over-weight” was considered beautiful, but it was also deemed natural to look physically substantial. Furthermore, during the medieval period, hardship was common, and being fat was a sign of prosperity. If you have enough to eat, you are more likely to survive and be attractive!
If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, is reality (truth) in the minds of the beholder too?
To be continued in Part II
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
